Alps in Austria,Switzerland or Germany

Where in Germany are you? At worst, I would say Alpine scenery is merely "incredible", but the average is "breath-taking". Many on this website would say the Berner Oberland has some of the best scenery, but depending on your location, this might not be that close for a weekend get-away. In Germany, some of the best scenery, I think, is by Garmisch-Partenkircken, Bechesgaden, and the view of the mountains from the lakefront at Lindau (although the mountains aren't that close).

Hi Dave,

Where you are in Germany would be very helpful. For "beautiful Alpine scenery" I'd also suggest the Berchtesgaden area, Mittenwald (less than half an hour from Garmisch) and depending on how much free time you have on weekends, south of the Berchtesgaden area head into Austria and head towards Zell am See (1:30 from Berchtesgaden). Less than an hour south of Mittenwald the Innsbruck area is fantastic. If you can do an overnight weekend, I'd suggest the Dolomite region of Italy (Val Gardena area), which is about an hour south of Innsbruck.

Here are some photo's of the areas I mentioned:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel11.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel1.html

Hope this helps.

Paul

I forgot to elaborate on my location. Just south of Stuttgart, in the foothills. Yes, "breath-taking" and "miraculous wonder" is precisely what I am looking for. Thanks for your help.

Some travelers would say the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Swiss Berner Oberland would meet your criteria of miraculous wonder or breathtaking, you be the jduge, here's a couple of photos: Lauterbrunnen Valley Another Photo Unfortunately it's about 260 miles, a 4 hour drive one way, from where you are.

You're probably far enough away from the Alps that just about any location would involve a lot of driving. Of the locations I listed, Lindau on the Bodensee is probably closest, but this only gives you a great view from a distance. If you drive south from here, you'll see all kinds of great scenery, although other than Flims, I'm not too familiar with any of the towns in this area.

People's tastes vary. I enjoyed Lauterbrunnen Valley mentioned above but in some ways I liked Lucerne Lake even more, a great lake surrounded by mountains. We used to do Lake Lucerne on a long weekend from Landstuhl north of Stuttgart, but it might be a stretch for two days.

Regards, Gary

I do have a car and not afraid to use it. A four hour one way trip would be fine with an overnight stay. If you could chose between Zurich or Salsburg, which one would you take. It might help me narrow in which direction I head. Thanks for all of the input so far.

Dave

Zurich is closer to Stuttgart, but you won't see much (or any) Alpine scenery there. If you're willing to drive to Zurich, just go all the way to the Berner Oberland, which lies to the southwest of Zurich.

And even though Salzburg is a gorgeous city, the Alpine scenery there isn't that impressive, compared with other areas of the country. But, you'll have to cross through the Obersalzburg region to reach the city, and there is some great scenery there.

Hi Dave,

I'd choose Salzburg. For impressive scenery, stay in the Berchtesgaden area (we love Ramsau) which is less than 30 minutes from Salzburg by car.

Paul

Dave, will you only have one night to spend on the trip? The Lauterbrunnen Valley offers some beautiful scenery as mentioned and would be around a four hour drive or maybe a little more. If you could leave on a Friday afternoon and if driving really does not bother you then maybe you could think about driving to Bolzano or close to there and spend the night. Get up the next morning and drive the Great Dolomite Road from Bolzano to Cortina d'ampezzo. Then to Heiligenblut, Austria and spend the night there. A beautiful little village with views of the Grossglockner, Austria's highest peak, and also a beautiful little church which begs you to take a photo of it against the moutain backdrop. Get up the next morning and drive the Grossglockner Road and eat lunch at the Panoramic Restaurant on the Kaiser Franz Josef Hohe while viewing the Grossglockner at close range and the Pasterze glacier, Austria's longest. Then on back to Stuttgart. Downsides to this plan are that you would be driving about 1200 km, around 750 miles, and around 15 hours of driving time not counting stopping for photos and soaking up the scenery. The upside would be the incredible scenery of the Dolomites while driving the Great Dolomite Road. Also, the scenery through Germany, Italy and Austria. This is a very agressive plan and you would need 2 nights. Not something many folks would attempt but coming from one who does not mind driving and having made this trip before I would do it in a heartbeat if time permitted. The ideal situation would be to have a week to do this but since you don't have that luxury you just have to decide if you want to drive a short distance and stay in one place and soak up the scenery or drive a lot which makes it harder to check out the views unless you stop a lot. Don't forget if you go into Austria you need a vignette sticker for your car which you can purchase for as short a time as ten days. Switzerland also requires a sticker, yearly only, thus more expensive.